October 28th, 2009 at 10:48 PM ^
I want to see Charlie V. play defense against some of the more talented frontcourts in the league before I calibrate any kind of expectations for this Pistons team. They're great in the back court, but their lack of depth with big men is going to be an issue going through this season, I think. They will make the playoffs with a decent record, but it depends how efficient the big men they have are, or how they decide to trade for a better big man.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:49 PM ^
Two things: One, I still can't get over that we signed both Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace back in the same season. Didn't even have to trade Grant Hill this time.
Two, did I miss something in the offseason? (Highly possible.) Or is Allen Iverson's DNP-CD as hilarious as I think it is?
October 28th, 2009 at 11:02 PM ^
Iverson has a lingering hamstring injury from the preseason so I believe that is why he didn't play tonight.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:56 AM ^
Rats. There was comedy potential there, but I hadn't heard about the hammy, or if I did I forgot.
October 29th, 2009 at 1:20 AM ^
Iveson is hurt and wasn't even dressed, so I don't the coach could have played him if he wanted to.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:03 PM ^
I don't think this game really tells us anything about the Pistons other than that they are significantly better than one of the worst franchises in the NBA.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:12 PM ^
As a Lions fan, I can say that means something!
October 28th, 2009 at 11:31 PM ^
This is basically my takeaway from this game, although 1-0 is nicer than 0-1, especially with the offseason changes (roster and coaching). And I guess a road victory counts for something.
The next one against OK City (Seattle) shouldn't tell much, either. I am kind of excited to see Kevin Durant play, though. That kid is phenomenal.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:14 PM ^
But seriously Chucky Atkins - there was no one else to have on the roster?
October 28th, 2009 at 11:59 PM ^
Watching the game with a guy who grew up in Chicago, he and I both wondered "how could the Bulls let Gordon get away?". I know that Rose is a stud, but wasn't part of his success based on the coverage the D from the opposition threw at Gordon? Anyway, I laughed and giggled with joy (and hit my buddy several times in the shoulder) whenver Ben G. would come down and shoot-to-kill for a deuce or a trey. I am SO excited about this season... no expectations, no star, no excessive baggage! If the Pistons win their allotted 41 games, I'll be happy. But I have a sneaky feeling that this could be a "problem" team for many in the East. Go Piston - Welcome back Ben Wallace and Welcome Ben Gordon!!!!!
October 29th, 2009 at 7:11 AM ^
Shot Selection.......Ben Gordon is an amazing talent, but doesn't necessarily work within the flow of the offense. Last night for example, those shots look great on the highlight reels, but where they good shots? If he doesn't make those shots, then he's taking a seat next to Mr. Atkins on the bench. Ben has a tendency to freelance out there, he took a couple of shots coming off screens, but the majority of his offense is generated on 1 on 1 play, which almost unanimously ends up hurting a team unless you have a Bryant, Wade, James type player. Would you really want Ben Gordon taking those shots consistently in the playoffs? The reason why Detroit has not reached the Finals in the past 4 years is the lack of a post presence, their offense was based on outside shooting. Gordon is fun to watch, but can you really see him being the focal point of this team?
October 29th, 2009 at 8:32 AM ^
Did you watch Gordon in the playoffs last year?
October 29th, 2009 at 1:20 PM ^
Are you talking about the same series against Boston where he shot under 39% for the series, only showed up for 2 games(games 2 & 4), and was absolutely horrible the rest of the series shooting under 32% for all other games......yes, I watched those same playoffs. Did you happen to watch his playoff performances prior to last year, like the 07 2nd round series vs. Detroit where once again he only showed up for 1 game, and shot under 39% for the series while having only 1 less turnover than assists. How about 06 against Miami where he only showed up for 2 games and shot less than 41% while once again only having 1 more assist than turnovers. Then there is the 05 1st round series vs. Washington where he shot under 41% and only 2 more assists than turnovers
Looks like a trend here my friend, Mr. Gordon jacks up a lot of shots, while not shooting a great percentage, and doesn't make his team better. If he's not shooting the ball well he's worthless. His defense is suspect to be generous, and he certainly doesn't have good point guard attributes.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:50 PM ^
I think the Bulls are gonna make a play for Wade next summer.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:02 AM ^
The only issue was that Tayshaun figured out a way to have his bad shooting carry over from last season. First game of course, but you said it all with "I know it was against the Grizzlies". Love the stones, but lets wait til we play a big boy.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:29 AM ^
I won't lie I was impressed regardless of the competition. Could a second team of misfits bring home another championship???
October 29th, 2009 at 12:44 AM ^
I would have to unfortunately go with a no on that one.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:41 AM ^
Nobody gave the pistons a chance last time. All you heard was Billups who, Prince who, Wallace who, and Hamilton can't play defense and when they traded for Rasheed everybody was like he's just a cancer, he's not a team player and doesn't play defense either.
They have some outstanding coaches (3 were with Brown during the 04' championship and Brian Hill who took the Magic to the Finals) who will teach them how to play proper defense and they shouldn't have a problem scoring with Kuester.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:03 AM ^
This team is definitely going to be entertaining, and will be better than most projected them to be(most analysts have the Pistons not making the playoffs). That being said, don't be fooled by a 1 night stand against a horrible team in Memphis. Detroit is now the new Chicago Bulls and GS Warriors, a abundance of small, skilled guards, but no bigs, and hence, NO SCORING IN THE PAINT. If a team can't score easy buckets in the paint, that is generally going to limit your success. At the end of the day the Pistons will be fun to watch, earn a 7 - 8 seed, but that's where the road stops. They need to trade for a legitimate post threat to put them over the hump.
From my recollection, everybody picked the Pistons to get to the Finals in 04 after the Sheed trade(but not win the title), and NOBODY EVER SAID he wasn't a team player. I understand the general lack of respect for the Pistons, but we can't fabricate for purposes of motivation.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:09 AM ^
in points in the paint in 2004 and 23rd in 2005, they made the finals in both years. Defense is the key for this years team just like in 04' and 05'. If the coaches can teach these guy's real team defense, look out.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:00 AM ^
While I agree to extent about the inside scoring, Detroit hasn't had a legitimate inside scorer since Corliss Williamson, and they still competed for championships.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:24 AM ^
Technically, I guess you could say they competed for championhsips since they were among the last 4 teams left in the playoffs. But in reality, if they played in the Western Conference would they have been able to advance past the 2nd round? They had trouble beating a horrible Cleveland team in 06, and really never faced a team that was a championship material until the conference finals. The lack of quality teams in the East enabled the Pistons to be better than they actually were to be honest about it.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:39 AM ^
The Pistons do still play in the East right? When they did get to the finals they crushed LA and took San Antonio 7 games and one Wallace OOPS from winning back to back. The East thing is just a small blip in the overall picture. So in reality...wait the reality is the Pistons play in the East so that argument holds no weight.
October 29th, 2009 at 1:24 PM ^
We're talking about the same conference that consistently has sub .500 teams making the playoffs, while the West has teams with 50 wins that don't make the post-season. To me that's a pretty large discrepancy, there is no denying that the West is far superior to the East. Granted, the top 2-3 teams in the East are legit, but other than that the East is horrible, and that speaks to the type of teams that Detroit has played prior to the East Finals.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:47 AM ^
I agree that the Eastern Conference was weaker top-to-bottom than the Western Conference during that run, but as the cliche goes, you can only play the teams on your schedule. And to be fair, since 2003-2004 (the year the Pistons won), the NBA championship has been split evenly between the two conferences (East - Detroit, Miami, Boston; West-Spurs [2x], Lakers). They also took one of those Spurs teams to Game 7, and probably would have won had Larry Brown wasn't looking for apartments in NY while sitting on the bench.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:32 AM ^
...when I read the MGoBoard FAQ, I see this last point:
_________________
OFFTOPIC
Pro sports of any variety
Everything else
_________________
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/mgoboard-faq
_________________
I don't read this as allowing a post on this stuff with an "OT" prefix, I read this as "no posting," i.e., prohibited. It comes right after the item saying that political stuff is "Unwelcome."
The problem for me is that the Pistons/Lions/Tigers/Red Wings items make MGoBlog seem like a pro board for Metro Detroit.
My feeling is that if you think something is "OT," it probably means don't post it.
Am I missing something? Bang away!
October 29th, 2009 at 8:44 AM ^
What's the offtopic policy? In the offseason, offtopic posts are somewhere between tolerated or encouraged. During the season it would be nice if they were kept to a minimum. What counts as on- and off- topic?There's like 1 OT post for every 20 on topic. I don't think that's too excessive and falls into the keeping it to a minimum guidline. People enjoy talking about pro sports too so just don't read if you don't like it.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:35 AM ^
I don't read this as allowing a post on this stuff with an "OT" prefix, I read this as "no posting," i.e., prohibited.You read it wrong then, and/or you didn't read enough of the post:
What's the offtopic policy? In the offseason, offtopic posts are somewhere between tolerated or encouraged. During the season it would be nice if they were kept to a minimum.There's nothing about "prohibited." Right now two of the threads on the front page under "New" are OT - I think one out of five is not excessive.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:37 AM ^
... I guess it's worth losing points for posting something topical about stuff that's off-topic.
Time to go post about the Sacramento Kings on some VA college blog...
October 29th, 2009 at 10:45 AM ^
If you don't see the difference between posting about the Tigers/Wings/Pistons/Lions on a Michigan blog and posting about the Sacramento Kings on ae VA blog then I don't know what to tell you.
October 29th, 2009 at 11:43 AM ^
... when I think Michigan around here, I think:
Not:
(neggbanged but unbowed)
Not:
(neggbanged but unbowed)
October 29th, 2009 at 2:26 PM ^
I don't think anyone's paying attention to you. You should probably go into all the other OT threads and say all this same stuff so people will get it.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:30 AM ^
Sorry, mom.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:34 AM ^
It was great! The new coach has a clue, its nice to see a good rotation so when the players come in the game they are fresh. And the player look to be buying in to THE D
October 29th, 2009 at 6:46 PM ^
a clue.
Curry was just a disaster, I think he was a better player than he was a coach.
October 29th, 2009 at 3:00 PM ^
I like the off-season moves Dumars has made with this team. I like all 3 rookies and I like Gordon and Charlie V. There is enough talent on the team to make the playoffs. But they're still lacking a solid big man. And until they get one they will not be title contenders.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:18 PM ^
It's always good to start off with a win, and getting a road win, which can be tough, is a bonus.
Small sample size, but it was good to see them playing D, which I am concerned about this year. Blaha called Big Ben's defensive energy contagious. I wonder how much energy he will have as we get into the grind of the season, and if the other players can provide defensive energy of their own.
Still, 1-0, baby!